Why we travel?

Outline

  1. Your travels
  2. Why travel?
  3. Why travel top 10
  4. Why should young people travel?
  5. Why don't Americans travel?
  6. Self-imposed Isolation
  7. Long way Round / Long Way Down review
  8. A geographer's perspective

Your travels

I have spent time in 28 countries, most of which has been while in the military, some leisure and some for work. I just separated from the Air Force (October 19’) after 8 years of service having spent half of my time overseas, living in England and South Korea. Traveling has been a life changing experience for me for a multitude of reasons. One of the challenges we have as individuals is breaking out of our comfort zone, which traveling does by forcing you to adapt to new physical and social environments. When you reflect on your travels you are usually left with a bittersweet feeling for two reasons: 1) The physical beauty of the landscapes, places, and people you met encapsulated you; 2) The social connections you made, made a deep impression on you. My motivations for traveling was to experience the world and have fun in as many places as I could. The main take away for me is that no matter where you travel, the best times you are going to have revolve around people, not places. If you are traveling in Paris and make friends, maybe spend time with them, and skip the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. Life is ultimately about people not places.

Why travel?

Huberman travels in her own words because, “I’ll be exposed to new ways of doing and seeing things. It will be good for me” (Huberman, 2). Huberman realizes in her travels that American culture is different than other cultures and that she can not live within the general ethical/legal framework of other countries government systems, in juxtaposition to the cultural values she was raised upon. They do not match. Her ultimate realization that the reason for her traveling is that being American gives her the ability to travel, and with that ability to travel will come greater wisdom and understanding of the world as a whole.

Why travel top ten

1)     Traveling teaches you about the world

-Traveling exposes you to new customs and traditions that are unique to your way of life. If you immerse yourself in the language and culture of a foreign country, you will learn more about the world. Traveling also teaches you that people are basically the same everywhere.

 

2)     Traveling teaches you about yourself

-Traveling teaches you about yourself in that it reflects your own percepts back at you. When you a traveling you are constantly comparing your own cultural values with those of the place you are traveling in. The constant pull and tug between what you think you like about your home culture and what you admire about a foreign culture is what causes you to grow.

3)     Traveling motivates you pick three that would be the most important to you and explain why.

-Traveling is motivating, although it is hard to encapsulate why exactly. I believe that the motivation one brings back from traveling is related to the sheer magnitude of new emotional experiences encountered when traveling, whether caused by physical or social interactions.

 

Why should young people travel?

1)     To experience life outside of their home

2)     To see new places

3)     To meet new people

4)     To try new disciplines

5)     To learn a new language

6)     To learn how to live local but think global

Why don't Americans travel?

I would say that work culture, cost, and diversity of geography are the three biggest reasons why Americans don’t travel (Why Americans Don’t Travel Abroad, Avon). In America, we live in a very large country that is full of a wide range of different cultures and different geographies. We can go to the beach on three different coasts, go to the mountains, the dessert, the opportunities for travel are endless. I believe that the main reason why Americans don’t travel is mostly due to our work culture. We take less vacation than most other developed countries and it is uncommon for us to take time off after we graduate high school to travel.

Self-imposed Isolation?

I would say that the “varying degrees of isolation from the world” starts with how you isolate yourself at home. Whether you have a natural proclivity towards extroversion or introversion and seasoned person will work towards a balance of these traits, no matter what their biological tendencies are. Part of living a fulfilling life is surrounding yourself with people in most of your daily activities and then also giving your mind a break when you need to unwind and decompress from life’s stresses. Self-imposed isolation starts at the local level. It would be wise to first conquer socializing yourself and getting involved in your local community before you branch our to traveling globally, otherwise you will not get as much out of your travels.

I would rather not talk about the people I know who engage in self-imposed isolation. I have a few friends and a family members who battle with severe anxiety, who isolate themselves in fear that any effort they make, the world will not accept them.

Passports

It looks like the coastal United States has a higher percentage of passport owners than does the middle of the country. This could indicate both that incomes are higher in coastal metropolises and that states in the middle of the country are more geographically separated from other countries. It could also perhaps be a mindset of the people who live in these areas that they think they are farther away than they actually are.

A close up of a map Description automatically generated

Submitted by Tim Callahan on 1/24/2020.